Gambia-l,
This is a very good interview with Susan Rowe but there are some
information that the the reporter must have misunderstood. In one instance
they write Kaur Health Center and another instance they write Kuntaur
Health Center. I think they need to make a correction in the next issue
inorder to make clarification which health center they are talking about.

With regards to GESO too they wrote "It started seven years ago in the US
by a woman called Sophey Ceesay". This is incorrect.
GESO was established by members of Gambia-L including sister Soffie.
Here is a brief history of GESO extracted from the first progress report to
Gambia-l http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind9909&L=gambia-
l&P=R7443

1. HISTORY OF GESO:

In March 1997, Musa Sowe initiated a debate titled "PROPOSAL/FOOD FOR
THOUGHT/LONG".  Mr. Sowe challenged members of Gambia-L to adopt a
school/institution in The Gambia, to help further develop education in
Gambia.  A lot of people on Gambia-L welcomed the idea and the discussion
that ensued after that lead to the creation of an Education Committee in
April 1997.  Later that month, a questionnaire survey conducted by Andrea
Klump identified the need for the establishment of an autonomous
organization to assist individuals and institutions at all levels of
education in The Gambia.  Following this survey, a sub-committee tasked
with drafting the Organization's constitution and activity plan was
established in September 1997.  In January 1998, a draft was presented to
the Education Committee and later to the entire Gambia-L membership for
endorsement and ratification.

The final document outlining the Organization's mission, objectives, by-
laws and activity plan was adopted.

Read more at:
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind0003&L=gambia-l&P=R11101
and http://geso.hypermart.net

Thank you for your efforts Susan!

Momodou Camara

----------------------


Susan Rowe a Jolly Good Friend of the Gambia

http://allafrica.com/stories/200308080596.html
The Independent (Banjul)
INTERVIEW
August 8, 2003
Posted to the web August 8, 2003
Banjul

The world, they say, is a global village. What with the Internet and all
that, feeling each other worlds apart is no gargantuan achievement.

Regular English tourist, Susan Rowe, fits that tag. Only it is not via the
Information Super Highway. She came to these shores at a time when
computers were a rare find in offices, not to talk of Internet cafes.

In fact, it was over a decade since Rowe's debut visit that Gambians were
privileged to enjoy Internet services. Hearing Rowe puts herself across on
how she gets along in rural Gambia, a pang of guilt engulfed me. I had
never heard of a village in the sun called Manna and hell! I have never
eaten nada and don't even know what it is! Thus, to learn these from a
stranger a world away from home is not a settling feeling. With the term
global village though, one could find some comfort. In a touching, straight
talking manner, Rowe made it clear that colour, nationality or creed are
trivial matters. Humanity, she pointed out, is what matters. Touche, Rowe!

Born in the late forties in Reading, England, this free smiling Briton
graduated from her hometown university with a degree in Sociologist but
never put it in training. Rather, she became a nurse and worked with the
state. The sociologist cum nurse took a new dimension, becoming an
educationist. She started off as a secretary, deputy head teacher and
finally head teacher at Cwombes Infant School in over a two decades
stretch. The school has strong connections to these shores. Find out in
this issue of Portrait as Rowe talks on that, a night to remember and GESO.

Tell us a thing or two about yourself?

I am a person who loves The Gambia. I've known this country for seventeen
years and I love every bit of it. It draws me every year. I simply can't
keep away.

When did your love affair with The Gambia commenced?

It was in 1987 when I came for a week's Christmas holiday. I stepped off
the British Caledonia flight and fell in love, though I couldn't see
anything. It was 8:30 in the evening and it was pitch black. But I fell in
love with the smell!

What precisely drew you here?

It was a late booking. I wanted to get away at Christmas with a friend. We
had the chance to go on a trip to Turkey, Spain or West Africa. We opted
for the former because it seemed exotic. There was no planning in it. It
was truly coincidence. Seventeen years on, I'm still coming here!

What kept this special relationship so long?

It is the people. Wonder people, who, inspite all difficulties, remain
dominant of being high-spirited, endlessly resourceful, always optimistic.
What strikes me most coming from a very cushioned society in the West is
you look at Gambians who look after each other and still remember how to
talk to each other. In the West, we tend to forget that. You are always
busy at work, you come in, put on a television or you turn on your computer
and you don't speak to anybody. Here, the old tradition is still strong.

Surely something must have jolted you when you first came to these shores?

No lights, just candles. I remember driving through Serekunda looking for
street lights and lights in houses and there weren't any.

There must have been a power failure, which is still present! That was
really up to me because I had gotten no preconceived ideas of what a Third
World country is like. Thus, that was some shock. No lights.

I take it that was your first trip to Africa?

Yes, that is so. I traveled widely through Europe but never to Africa
before.

Seventeen years you still here, paraphrasing you?

Yes, still loving it, still discussing new things every time I come,
meeting new people, hearing new stories. It is a wonderful country.

Would you agree you are a Gambian, somewhat?

I wish I were! But I'm not one of those people assume just by being a
visitor here gives them right of any citizenship. But I feel an enormous
affinity with Gambian people.

With seventeen years, Gambian culture must be a cut-and-dried thing for
you?

I've become acquainted with Mandinko culture. A lot of time I spent in this
country I do so in Sami district. There I line just like any ordinary
person in Manna village and experiencing life as rural people do, enjoying
ceremonies in daily life like birth, marriage and death and becoming
endlessly fascinated. This is totally dissimilar to what we have in the UK.
It is a unique society.

I guess you fitted well?

Yes. I also love to sing. The first time I went to Manna village, I started
singing and that, of course, brought all the children. They taught me their
traditional Mandinko songs and I taught them English songs. That was the
start of a long term singing relationship! Wherever we go, we sing.

What of Gambian foods?

Oh, I love all Gambian foods expect monno (porridge)! I find it really
difficult to eat it first thing in the morning so I tend not to.

Other than that, I love the rest. I cook for myself at home.

Who taught you that?

My Gambian mother, Fatoumatta Trawally, taught me. Her two daughters spend
endless hours with me. I received training in how to cook the best nada
from Fatou Saidykhan in Abuko village. She cooks the best nada you could
possibly taste.

No stomach upsets?

No stomachaches, no Banjul belly because if you are eating Gambian food,
why would you have a problem? (Laughs)

How did you land up in Manna?

Again, it was coincidence. I met someone at Kotu Strand Hotel, Ausumana
Trawally, a waiter. He asked me whether I would love to see a real village
and I went. I had a fascinating time and had lots of stories to tell. The
first time I went, I felt very brave because I was staying in a strange
place. I was the only white person for miles around and I confidently went
to bed in my own little hut. It had a mosquito net around the bed and went
to bed in the dark because there was no light. I was awakened by a sound by
two in the morning. I turned on my torch and found that rats were using my
mosquito net! Foolishly, as a silly toubab, I had left a loaf of bread on
open offer in my room and every nyino (rat) this side of the river Gambia
had come to eat! That was difficult. I've now learnt never leave food in
your house.

Some lesson, eh?

I learnt a big lesson on that one I still have a problem with the nyinos
but we've learn to live close to each other but not together.

Nyino is a Mandinko word for rat. Are you well versed in the language?

I'm always trying to improve my Mandinko. I have a good understanding of
the language and could contribute. However, I think I speak it as a baby!

But you can keep a conversation going?

I can keep a conversation going and understand what people are saying,
unless they speak deep Mandinko.

Tell me, what do you find so special about the Gambia?

The people and the children. As an educator in the UK, children endlessly
fascinate me. Gambian children are wonderful. They are happy, lively,
welcoming and full of vigour. They are The Gambia's best resource.

What other Gambian connections do you have?

The school that I am teaching in the UK supports Kaur Health Centre. We
take mosquito nets and medicines there every year. But over the last four
years, I've become the chairperson of The Gambia Education Support
Organisation (GESO). This is a worldwide organisation whenever there are
Gambians and friends of The Gambia, there would be a branch of GESO. The
aim is to help education. At the moment, our branch from the UK is
sponsoring 17 students from The Gambia. That would increase to about 30
students this year. We just raise a lot of money.

How long has GESO being around?

It started seven years ago in the US by a woman called Sophey Ceesay. The
UK branch opened three years ago and I was instrumental in that, with other
Gambians who lived and studied in the UK. We try and raise as much as we
can to help as many children as we can.

But where does the bulk of these funds come from?

It comes from me, twisting people's arms! Recently at our school, we put in
five exercise bikes in our school hall and we had parents coming to ride
these bicycles twenty hours a day for a week. So we cycled to The Gambia
and back in our school hall.

People who ride the bikes got sponsorship. We made 2,000 Pounds, specially
for GESO. We also have concerts at our school and this is twice a year. The
children sing for their parents and the money made is always for Kaur
Health Center.

Why specifically Kaur Health Center?

I visited that place in 1990 when there were no mosquito nets, no bedsheets
and hardly any medicines. It was a very, very backwater health center. I
went with a very sick man and they couldn't do anything for him because
they didn't have the resources. The only options with people who are sick
was to be driven to Banjul to RVH and hope you wouldn't die on the way. So
I made a commitment there and then that I would do what I could for that
health center.

How have you revolutionalised Kuntaur Health Center?

Our resources are small scale and I wish we could rebuild the hospital and
put in everything that it needs. But we are ordinary people helping
ordinary Gambians on an ordinary scale.

I reckon you must have wormed your way into hearts of people of Kuntaur?

I guess so. Annually we take there boxes of drugs. For the people there,
that is going to mean relief from pain or from infection.

Celebral malaria in those parts is a big problem and to be able to take
anti-malaria drug there is a wonderful thing.

Is there a criteria for being sponsored by GESO?

The only criteria is that we have to be assured that the money goes to
children education. That is really difficult in The Gambia because there
are so many pressing demands on families, how they make a judgment between
feeding and educating them. Since the money was raised for educational
purposes, we have to make sure it goes in there.

Choosing the children is always difficult because everybody is needy.

You studied Sociology but you never put it to practice?

My first ambition as a young woman was to be a medical social worker. I
studied Sociology, which I found fascinating. Then I did a graduate nursing
course and become a state registered nurse. Then my life journey charged. I
met a man, got married and had children.

Naturally my interest turned towards their education

How did you get to Cwombes Infant School?

I started there. My own children went there twenty-five years ago.

I started as a helping mum. Then I became the secretary and they sent me to
do my postgraduate training for a year. Then I worked as a teacher. I was
promoted to deputy head and now I'm the head teacher. It's been a very
interesting career route.

What's so special about Cwombes School?

It's become a well-known infant nursery school. We attract a lot of
visitors all over the world, especially from Scandinavia, because of our
unique approach to educating young people. We are always creative in our
approach to education and seeking new ways to do old things.

Running an infant school requires patience. I reckon you have it in spades?

I've got a wonderful sense of humour and I love children, people not just
children. It is fun. There is not a day that I don't go to work invigorated
and looking forward to it.

Tell us about your days as a state registered nurse?

My mother was there and I got the smell from her, I guess! With nursing, it
is a skill you can still put into practice in every aspect of your life.
This is a profession that is very similar to teaching.

I learnt the 60's were some decade in England?

In the 60's, I look part in the march to the American Embassy, protesting
the Vietnam War. I was a typical student. The cause that I did it for was
quite innovative and I became interested in humanity. I spent a lot of time
in prison. Not on the inside though but through research!

With the Gambia found wanting in many factors, that must have made you
appreciate what you have back home?

There are many blessing in The Gambia. But there is no comparison with what
we have over there to what is here. There is a great divide of haves and
have-nots; we must do what we have to do to bridge that gap.

How do you tend to do that?

You can only do it in small ways. But at least if you doing it and you come
to this end of your life, you can say "I tried" rather than "I turned my
back".

It still beats me how a westerner could be so at home in our midst, and
going our ways?

I think people throughout the world are the same. We share the same hopes
and dreams and tragedies. It is not a case of nationality or color. I'm one
of those people who rejoice in humanity.

Sounds like you have an open mind?

I think so. I hope I retain an open mind till the day I die.

Extend a greeting in Mandinko?

Sumolae?


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